Kinley Asp appeared in gyms throughout the region this season. And those were the nights her Air Academy team wasn’t playing.

At the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs Christian, Doherty, The Classical Academy and on up to Valor Christian, to name a few, Asp could be found supporting, watching, learning — drinking in basketball more as a way of life than sport.

And when it was her turn to take the court, no one was better than the 2025-26 Gazette Preps 6A-5A Girls’ Basketball Peak Performer of the Year.

“I love basketball,” said Asp, who averaged 25.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.4 steals — all team highs — in leading Air Academy to the 5A quarterfinals. “I have such a passion for it. Just to go watch these games in random gyms, go find random people playing, it’s fun to watch and learn from it in different ways.”

This passion originated at home in a basketball-crazed family that includes father, Jon, who played at NCAA Division II Indiana Wesleyan and served as head coach at Manitou Springs High School during a 66-13 three-season stretch in the mid-2010s before serving as an assistant at D2 Colorado Christian. There are also two basketball-playing brothers, including older brother Walker, a sophomore at Northern Colorado.

But while the hours in the gym might have left her predisposed to making this her game of choice, the gravitation to basketball was Kinley’s choice.

“It was a slight concern with all my kids,” Jon said of the risk of burnout from oversaturation. “I definitely wanted to keep that balance for them.”

When Kinley was in fourth grade, Jon was driving her to club soccer. She was playing on the top team in the city and casually mentioned to her dad that soccer was probably her third-favorite sport.

“I said, ‘What? We’re paying this amount of money for your third-favorite sport?’” Jon said. “I turned the car around and that was the last time she ever played soccer. From then on she was basketball-only.”

Though he’s careful, particularly after her games, to be a supportive dad first and foremost, Jon often sits with Kinley in the stands as they talk through what they see and how it might apply to her game.

Kinley has long been a visual learner when it comes to basketball. Notice, for example, how often she goes to her left. Then understand that her mother and both brothers are lefties. She watched, learned and applied. Still does.

“There’s always something to learn from every game if you’re playing in it or if you’re not,” Kinley said. “So, I mean, we do dissect games, but we’re ultimately here to support the girls playing.”

This season was a departure from the style Asp had known during a memorable start to her career that included 3A state championship seasons with Colorado Springs Christian and a run to the 5A championship game in her first season as a transfer to Air Academy.

Those teams featured prolific leading scorers — Grace Minihane (now at Navy) at 20-plus points per game both years at CSCS and Tatyonna Brown (now at Kansas) at 18.9 ppg in Asp’s first season at Air Academy — that allowed Asp to be more of a true point guard and mortar-between-the-bricks piece. Granted, she still scored, tallying more than 1,100 points during those years. But this year as the Kadets featured a lineup of Asp and a slew of sophomores and freshmen with zero to little varsity experience, far more possessions began and ended with the ball in her hands.

Asp’s 673 points represented 47.8% of her team’s scoring.

The Kadets, leaning so heavily on their lone upperclassman, finished 21-5 en route to the 5A Great Eight at the Denver Coliseum.  

“I was a little nervous at the start, and I think everybody was a little nervous just on how it was going to look this season,” Asp said. “But I have been so blessed to play with the teammates I’ve had and the coaches I’ve had. This season has been extremely enjoyable for me.”

Of course, basketball seems to always be enjoyable for Asp.

Her deep base of knowledge — along with skills and a 5-foot-11 frame — comes mixed with a competitive streak. It’s the perfect storm of attributes, aptitude and attitude.

Coach Phil Roiko, who fully understood the enormity of the task he was asking of his star player, knew how to tap into that drive.

At halftime of a 58-53 victory over Thompson Valley in the Sweet 16, Roiko asked Asp if she was tired, as he didn’t notice the same energy she generally played with.

“It got her (ticked) off,” Roiko said. “When you get Kinley (ticked) off, it’s a good sign.”

Asp finished with 37 points, including 23 in the second half.

Things will change next year with Asp playing somewhere else, likely at the NCAA Division I level. She had signed with Boston College, but a coaching change prompted her to decommit last week.

At this point she is undecided and narrowing down her options.

Her father, who is sure to tell her frequently how much he enjoys watching her play, anticipates catching much of her college action via live streams. And he’s excited about what he’ll find. He’s seen her answer the call when asked to fill needs in various ways. What might the next level demand from her?

“I’m curious what’s going to happen over the next four years and how she develops,” he said.

Whatever it brings, she knows she’ll draw from a deep well of knowledge from a game that, however much of it she drinks in, hasn’t quenched her thirst.

“I’ll definitely play basketball as long as I can,” Asp said. “I just have a love for the game, and I always want to be around it. When that day (that I’m finished playing) comes, we’ll figure it out.

“But for now, we’ll keep working.”

And watching.

Kinley Asp career statistics

Year             Team  PTS      REB      AST       ST          Team finish

2025-26     AAHS   25.9     7.1        3.5        4.4        5A quarterfinals

2024-25     AAHS   13.5     4.5        4.4        3.1        5A runner-up

2023-24     CSCS   15.0     5.3        5.9        4.3        3A state champion

2022-23     CSCS   13.5     7.1        5.7        4.1        3A state champion